Information about the Teaching AMO Report

Topic Summary

Overview
Data Sources and Timelines
Understanding the Teaching AMO Data
Teaching AMO Definitions
Business Rules for Determining Teaching AMOs
Business Rules for Allocating Proportional FTE
Teachers Without a Statewide Educator Identifier
Charter School Flexibility
Uses of the Teaching AMO Data
Overview of the DataQuest Reports
Overview of the Downloadable Data File
Additional Teaching AMO Glossary Terms

Overview

In October 2019, the California State Legislature passed Assembly Bill (AB) 1219 . (Chapter 782, Statutes of 2020), which was subsequently signed into law. Authorized as part of AB 1219, California Education Code Section 44258.9 . requires the California Commission on Teacher Credentialing (CTC) to develop an electronic teacher assignment monitoring system known as the California State Assignment Accountability System (CalSAAS) for the purpose of annually monitoring teacher assignments. Information about CalSAAS can be found on the CTC Overview of CalSAAS and the CTC CalSAAS Information web pages.

California Education Code Section 44258.9 also requires the CTC and the California Department of Education (CDE) to enter into a data-sharing agreement to facilitate the annual monitoring of teacher assignments. As part of this data-sharing agreement, the CDE is required to provide the CTC with certificated staff assignment data that are submitted to the CDE by local educational agencies (LEAs) through the annual California Longitudinal Pupil Achievement Data System (CALPADS) Fall 2 data submission. The CALPADS Fall 2 staff assignment and course data are necessary for the CTC to conduct the annual assignment monitoring process in CalSAAS. In return, the CTC is required to provide the CDE with annual teacher credential and assignment monitoring outcome data consistent with the California Consolidated State Plan approved by the State Board of Education (SBE) to comply with the federal Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA). As part of the state plan, the SBE also approved updated definitions for “ineffective” and “out-of-field” teachers for reporting purposes, which can be found on the CDE Updated Teacher Equity Definitions web page.

In preparation for the new assignment monitoring process, in 2019, the CDE implemented a complete overhaul of the California state course codes submitted by LEAs along with the staff and course data collected in the CALPADS Fall 2 data submission. The course code update was done specifically to provide the CTC with more detailed information about teacher course assignments in order to streamline/assist the assignment monitoring process. Additionally, the CDE and the CTC conducted several training and outreach sessions to assist LEAs on understanding the impact of the new course code submission process with respect to the assignment monitoring process through CalSAAS. LEAs were encouraged to bring their CALPADS Coordinators, Curriculum and Instruction staff, and Human Resource staff to these training sessions to ensure accuracy in reporting these data in CALPADS for the 2019–20 school year. These training sessions were followed up with additional technical support to LEAs for the 2019–20 school year when the initial assignment monitoring process was piloted through CalSAAS. By statute, the 2019–20 assignment monitoring process was for informational purposes only and was not to be used for reporting.

The execution of the data-sharing agreement between the CDE and the CTC and the development of CalSAAS allows California, for the first time, to meet the federal reporting requirements established by ESSA. The CDE assignment data and the CTC assignment monitoring outcome data provide the basis for the DataQuest Teaching Assignment Monitoring (AMO) by Full-Time Equivalency (FTE) report to meet the requirements established under California’s ESSA Consolidated State Plan.

Data Sources and Timelines

The DataQuest Teaching AMO report and supporting downloadable data file use assignment data submitted to the CDE by local educational agencies (LEAs) through the annual CALPADS Fall 2 data submission. These data, which are submitted, reviewed, and certified by LEAs in CALPADS between October and March/April, include staff demographics and experience, staff assignments and full-time equivalency (FTE), course offerings, and student course enrollment data that are effective as of Census Day, which is the first Wednesday in October.

When the Fall 2 submission closes, the CDE extracts the necessary assignment data and transmits them to the CTC for their annual assignment monitoring process. The CTC loads the CALPADS assignment data into CalSAAS and compares these data against the CTC’s credential authorization data for each assignment based on the Statewide Educator Identification (SEID) associated with the assignment. Local educational agencies (LEAs), County Offices of Education (COEs), and Monitoring Authorities are then given a 90-day period to review exceptions and determinations and make corrections where applicable. The CTC’s assignment monitoring process typically occurs between August and November.

After the CalSAAS assignment monitoring process closes, the CTC processes the assignment data to generate the applicable AMOs for each assignment and transmits the data to the CDE for analysis and reporting purposes. The data provided to the CDE map to the statuses outlined in the California ESSA Consolidated State Plan approved by the SBE; however, some AMOs do not align with these definitions (e.g., Incomplete, Unknown, and N/A) but they are included in the report to provide a holistic understanding of the AMOs for the totality of teaching assignments reported by LEAs in CALPADS and so that the assignment FTE data will add to 100 percent in the DataQuest Teaching AMO report. More information about the CTC assignment monitoring process can be found on the CTC Overview of CalSAAS and CTC CalSAAS Information web pages.

Understanding the Teaching AMO Data

To understand the data presented in the DataQuest Teaching AMO report, it is important to first define the following important terms:

• Teaching Assignment: A “teaching assignment” is defined as a classroom-based assignment wherein a unique section of course content is being taught by one or more teachers to a specific group of students. LEAs submit course section and student course section data to CALPADS, which the CDE provides to the CTC for assignment monitoring purposes. A classroom-based teaching assignment is a course section within a class, where a class consists of one or more course sections being taught to one or more students by one or more teachers at a specific time at a specific location. Some teachers may also have non-classroom-based or support assignments, which are not included in this analysis. For this reason, the DataQuest reporting terminology for these data is "teaching assignments" rather than "teacher assignments" to emphasize that focus of the analysis and reporting is classroom-based assignments for teachers, and it does not include the non-classroom-based assignments. Additionally, the word "teaching" is also used to emphasize that these data are about assignments and not exclusively about individuals. As such, a monitoring outcome refers to a teacher and a specific assignment, not generally to a teacher.
  
  Note: Non-classroom-based or support assignments are assignments that have been designated as support service assignments or that are not based in the classroom. Non-classroom-based or support assignments do not include independent study courses, which are course-based assignments and therefore considered teaching assignments as defined above.
  
  
• Assignment Monitoring Outcome: An "assignment monitoring outcome" or AMO is the result(s) or finding(s) from the assignment monitoring processes conducted by the CTC. Each teaching assignment is evaluated along one or more attributes or dimensions for the teaching assignment in CalSAAS to determine if or how the teacher is authorized to teach the assigned course and the students enrolled in the course. For DataQuest reporting purposes, the FTE data for each teaching assignment is aggregated and displayed for the following AMOs: Clear, Out-of-Field, Ineffective, Intern, Incomplete, Unknown, and Not Applicable (N/A). More information about these AMO categories and the business rules for determining these reporting statuses are covered in separate sections below.
  
  
• Full-Time Equivalency: The "full-time equivalency" or FTE of a position is defined as the percentage of time spent working in a job classification in relation to a full-time position (100 percent or 1.0 FTE). In CALPADS, FTE information is reported for the following job classifications: Administrator, Teacher, and Pupil Services. Since FTE data are collected in CALPADS at the staff position level, not for each teaching assignment, staff position FTE for each teacher is proportionally distributed across their teaching assignments for reporting purposes. More information about the proportional distribution of staff position FTE across teaching assignments is covered in a separate section below.

Given the definitions above, the DataQuest Teaching AMO report shows how much teaching FTE is associated with classroom-based teaching assignments by subject area and their corresponding AMOs.

Teaching AMO Definitions

The CTC evaluates each teaching assignment along one or more relevant attributes or dimensions of the teaching assignment to determine if or how the teacher is authorized to hold the assignment based upon the credential authorization data maintained by the CTC. The CDE evaluates the detailed data provided by the CTC to produce a single AMO for each assignment based on a set of business rules described in a separate section below. The following seven AMOs used for reporting purposes are defined in the order in which they appear on the DataQuest report:

Clear

An assignment monitoring outcome of "clear" indicates that all relevant attributes or dimensions of the assignment were authorized by a clear or preliminary credential or authorized by a local assignment option (LAO) pursuant to Section 80005(b) of the California Code of Regulations [T5 §80005(b)] for specific state course codes where a credential or permit does not exist to authorize the indicated teaching assignment (e.g., student government or study hall.)

Out-of-Field

An assignment monitoring outcome of “out-of-field” indicates that one or more relevant attributes of the assignment were authorized by the following limited permits:

• General Education Limited Assignment Permit (GELAP)
• Special Education Limited Assignment Permit (SELAP)
• Short-Term Waivers
• Emergency English Learner or Bilingual Authorization Permits
• Local Assignment Options (except for those made pursuant to T5 §80005(b))

An "out-of-field" teacher is defined as someone who has a credential but has not yet demonstrated subject matter competence in the subject area(s) or for the student population associated with the assignment. More information about this term, approved by the SBE to comply with ESSA, can be found on the CDE Updated Teacher Equity Definitions web page.

Intern

An "intern" teacher is defined as someone who has a bachelor’s degree and has demonstrated subject matter competency in the subject area(s) or for the student population associated with the assignment, and who holds an intern credential while they complete coursework requirements to obtain a preliminary credential.

Ineffective

An assignment monitoring outcome of "ineffective" indicates that one or more relevant attributes of the assignment had no legal authorization from a permit, credential or waiver, or one or more relevant attributes of the assignment were authorized by the following limited permits:

• Provisional Internship Permits,
• Short-Term Staff Permits
• Variable Term Waivers
• Substitute permits or Teaching Permits for Statutory Leave (TPSL) holders serving as the teacher of record

More information about this term, approved by the SBE to comply with ESSA, can be found on the CDE Updated Teacher Equity Definitions web page.

Incomplete

An assignment monitoring outcome of "incomplete" indicates that missing or incorrect information about the assignment was reported to CALPADS by the LEA which prevented a complete and accurate determination of the assignment authorization during the CTC assignment monitoring process. In some cases, the LEA or Monitoring Authority may have indicated that the assignment is appropriate; however, neither the CDE nor the CTC can validate the authorization basis for the assignment.

Unknown (UK)

An assignment monitoring outcome of "unknown" indicates that insufficient information about the assignment was reported to CALPADS by the LEA which resulted in an "unknown" determination of the assignment authorization during the CTC assignment monitoring process. This outcome is often the result of LEAs not reporting an English language service associated with a course in which English learners are enrolled. Although the assignment authorization may be "clear" in other areas, an assignment monitoring outcome of “unknown” in the EL authorization space results in an overall determination of "unknown" for the assignment.

Not Applicable (N/A)

An assignment monitoring outcome of "N/A" indicates that the assignment either required no authorization or evaluation of the authorization was not applicable given the state course code or some other attribute of the assignment. This includes specific state course codes not evaluated during the assignment monitoring process conducted by the CTC (e.g., 9143, 9154, or 9215) or because the assignment was an online, learner-led course in which the student sets the pace of instruction, and where content and instruction are provided solely by the online application.

Business Rules for Determining Teaching AMOs

The assignment monitoring process conducted by the CTC evaluates each teaching assignment along one or more of the following attributes or dimensions to determine if or how the teacher is authorized to teach the assigned course and students enrolled in the course:

• Course and Subject and Grade level
• English Language Services
• Language of Instruction
• Special Education General (for pull out/push in assignments where specific disability is not known because there is no enrollment)
• Special Education Disability Type (for assignments designated as a special education instructional strategy for which up to 14 disability types are evaluated based on the students in the course)

Each teaching assignment may have one or more statuses depending on the applicable monitoring dimensions of the assignment. For example, a teacher may be credentialed to teach mathematics, but not authorized to provide a specific service to English learner (EL) students for the assignment. As a result, this assignment would have one status indicating that the teacher is "clear" for the subject area component of the assignment but misassigned or "ineffective" for the EL component of the assignment. Alternatively, a teacher may be authorized to teach mathematics under a local assignment option (LAO) while also being authorized to provide a specific service to EL students for the assignment. In this case, the assignment would have one status indicating that the teacher is "out-of-field" for the subject area component of the assignment and another status indicating that the teacher is "clear" for the EL component of the assignment.

Given the multi-dimensional aspect of the CTC’s assignment monitoring evaluation, and the many possible outcomes associated with a single assignment, the CDE executes a hierarchical set of business rules against the assignment monitoring data provided by the CTC to derive a single AMO status for each assignment. The resulting AMO statuses are then applied to the corresponding assignments and the related proportional teaching FTE for reporting purposes.

To determine a single reporting AMO status for each classroom-based teaching assignment, the CDE employs the following set of hierarchical business rules to arrive at one of the following AMO statuses for each assignment based on the definitions provided above:

• Step 1 – Ineffective: All teaching assignments are evaluated to determine if the CTC indicated that any required aspect of the assignment was found to be "ineffective" during the assignment monitoring process. If so, these assignment records are given a reporting AMO of "ineffective" and removed from further analysis.
  
  
• Step 2 – Out-of-Field: All teaching assignments remaining after Step 1 are evaluated to determine if the CTC indicated that any required aspect of the assignment was found to be “out-of-field” during the assignment monitoring process. If so, these assignment records are given a reporting AMO of “out-of-field” and removed from further analysis.
  
  
• Step 3 – Unknown (UK): All teaching assignments remaining after Step 2 are evaluated to determine if the CTC indicated that any required aspect of the assignment was found to be “unknown” during the assignment monitoring process. If so, these assignment records are given a reporting AMO of “unknown” and removed from further analysis.
  
  
• Step 4 – Incomplete: All teaching assignments remaining after Step 3 are evaluated to determine if the CTC indicated that any required aspect of the assignment was found to be “incomplete” during the assignment monitoring process. If so, these assignment records are given a reporting AMO of “incomplete” and removed from further analysis.
  
  
• Step 5 – Intern: All teaching assignments remaining after Step 4 are evaluated to determine if the CTC indicated that any required aspect of the assignment was found to be authorized by an “intern” credential during the assignment monitoring process. If so, these assignment records are given a reporting AMO of “intern” and removed from further analysis.
  
  
• Step 6 – Clear: All teaching assignments remaining after Step 5 are evaluated to determine if the CTC indicated that all required aspects of the assignment are “clear” during the assignment monitoring process. If so, these assignment records are given a reporting AMO of “clear” and removed from further analysis.
  
  
• Step 7 – Not Applicable (N/A): All teaching assignments remaining after Step 6 are evaluated to confirm that the CTC indicated all aspects of the assignment are “N/A” during the assignment monitoring process, meaning that the assignment was not applicable for evaluation as part of the assignment monitoring process.

The order in which teaching assignments are evaluated is important for determining the reporting AMOs. The logic categorizes teaching assignments in a ranked order from having one or more attributes that are the least desirable (ineffective) to those assignments with the most desirable outcomes (clear), with the remaining assignments receiving a designation of N/A. It is important to underscore that for an assignment to receive a reporting AMO of “clear” the assignment must be clear in all relevant aspects of the assignment.

Business Rules for Allocating Proportional FTE

The FTE of a position is defined as the percentage of time spent working in a job classification in relation to a full-time position (100 percent or 1.0 FTE). Information about staff FTE is collected in CALPADS at the job classification or staff position level, not separately for each assignment. As a result, for reporting purposes, the CDE uses the position-level FTE submitted by LEAs in CALPADS and assignment information submitted by LEAs in CALPADS to proportionally distribute the position-level FTE across their teaching assignments.

Here are a few examples of how the FTE is proportionally distributed across classroom-based teaching assignments (course sections):

• Example 1: An LEA reports that Staff A spends 100 percent of their time working in a teaching position. Staff A teaches one self-contained class, with one course section associated with the class. The proportional FTE for Staff A’s teaching assignment is 1.0 FTE divided by one assignment, or 1.0 FTE per assignment.
  
  
• Example 2: An LEA reports that Staff B spends 100 percent of their time working in a teaching position. Staff B teaches three departmentalized classes, each class with one course section, and has one non-classroom-based assignment, for a total of four assignments. The proportional FTE for Staff B’s teaching assignments is 1.0 FTE divided by four assignments, or 0.25 FTE per assignment; however, for the current classroom-based reporting purposes, only 0.75 of the FTE is classroom-based (0.25 FTE multiplied by 3 teaching assignments) and the 0.25 FTE for the non-classroom-based assignment is excluded.
  
  
• Example 3: An LEA reports that Staff C spends 50 percent of their time working in a teaching position. Staff C teaches two departmentalized classes, one class with one course section and the other class with two course sections. Since there are more than one course section in one of the classes, calculating the proportional FTE for Staff C’s assignments is a two-step process. In Step 1, the FTE for the teaching position is proportionally distributed across the two classes, which is .50 FTE divided by two classes, or 0.25 FTE per class. In Step 2, the proportional FTE for each class is distributed across the course sections for each class. For Class 1, 0.25 FTE for the class is divided by one course section, or 0.25 FTE for the related assignment. For Class 2, 0.25 FTE for the class is divided by two course sections, or 0.125 FTE for each related assignment.

The proportional distribution of FTE across classroom-based teaching assignments is a critical component of understanding how much time a teacher spends working on each assignment. Since CALPADS collects FTE at the position-level, the calculation of proportional FTE per assignment is an estimate. These calculations are also important for determining the amount of FTE associated with the AMO for each teaching assignment. For instance, in Example 2 above, if the AMOs for the three teaching assignments are “ineffective,” “out-of-field,” and “clear,” then 0.25 FTE will be counted in each of these AMO categories for reporting purposes.

Teachers Without a Statewide Educator Identifier

In order for LEAs to report FTE data to CALPADS, the staff member must have a Statewide Educator Identifier (SEID) assigned by the CTC. While teaching assignment (course section) data are reported to CALPADS for teachers who do not have an actual SEID through the use of a universal “proxy” SEID comprised of all 9s, these teaching assignments are not included in the DataQuest Teaching AMO report because there are no associated FTE data reported to CALPADS for these teachers. Given that many of these teachers do not hold a credential, permit, or waiver to teach, please note also that information about these assignments is not included in this report.

Charter School Flexibility

Education Code §44258.10 gives charter schools flexibility in assignments that were previously exempt from credentialing requirements (e.g., non-core/non-college prep courses). This statute provides that charter schools are not required to correct the misassignment of unqualified educators previously employed in these positions until July 1st, 2025. In order to be eligible for this flexibility, those educators must have been employed in their position at some point during or prior to the 2019-20 school year. These individuals cannot maintain the flexibility if they are:

• assigned to teaching a different subject; or
• begin teaching the same subject at a different school.

This assignment flexibility protects the educators from being removed from their positions by their employer; however, this assignment flexibility does not exempt charter schools from the assignment monitoring by the county office of education or from incurring an AMO, including a misassignment should one be identified.

Uses of the Teaching AMO Data

The CDE then processes and uses the AMO data for the following reporting purposes: DataQuest reporting, the School Accountability Report Card (SARC), California School Dashboard Priority One, Williams Determinations, Teacher Equity Plan, and federal Teacher Shortage and EDFacts reporting.

Overview of the DataQuest Reports

The following state-wide Teaching AMO reports are publicly available on DataQuest:

• Teaching Assignment Monitoring Outcomes by FTE
• Teaching Assignment Monitoring Outcomes by FTE (with County Data)

These DataQuest Teaching AMO reports are also available at the county-, district-, and school-levels.

Using the Teaching AMO Reports

Similar to other DataQuest reports, the Teaching AMO reports include expandable (+) Report Description, (+) Report Glossary, and (+) Report Options and Filters sections at the top of each report. Within the expandable (+) Report Options and Filters sections, users will find the following sub-sections that include a number of useful report options and data filters:

• Report Selection: Within this area, users can select different Teaching AMO reports, select a county, district, or school, and change the report year, when available.
  
  
• Data Type Options: Within this area, users can select how the data are viewed within the report; either by Subject Area or Academic Year (Multi-Year), when available. The default report configuration is by Subject Area. Within this area, users can also select reports that show data for all counties in the state, all districts in a county, or all schools in a district.
  
  
• Report Filters: Within this area, users can apply a variety of school type filters (i.e., charter/non-charter and alternative/regular schools), school grade span filters, teacher credential level filters, and teacher experience level filters. Additionally, users can apply one or more filters simultaneously to view data in a variety of configurations. Applied filters are viewable in the "Filtered Enabled" section above each report where the filters can also be reset. The CDE has incorporated a report "parameterization" feature into the Teaching AMO report, which will allow users to share a link to a filtered report.

Charter School Filters

Charter school data are removed by default from all district-level DataQuest Teaching AMO reports. To include charter school data in district-level reports, select the "Reset Filters" button on district-level reports to show data for "All Schools" OR select the desired School Type filter (i.e., All Schools, Charter Schools, or Non-Charter Schools) from within the expandable Report Options and Filters menu on the DataQuest Teaching AMO report. Results produced using the School Type report filter on the DataQuest Teaching AMO reports are based on the charter school status at the time of the CALPADS Fall 2 submission for the related academic year.

Note: The "Non-Charter" default filter view is ONLY applicable to district-level reports and is NOT applicable to "Report Totals" for other levels (i.e., state-, county-, or school-level reports).

Alternative School Filters

Results produced using the Dashboard Alternative School Status (DASS) report filter on the DataQuest Teaching AMO report are intended to facilitate comparisons of the Teaching AMOs for traditional charter and non-charter schools by allowing for the removal of alternative schools, which generally serve "high-risk" student populations. More information regarding the current DASS school accountability can be found at Dashboard Alternative School Status (DASS).

Overview of the Downloadable Data File

The following Teaching AMO downloadable data file is publicly available on the CDE website for multiple academic years:

Teaching AMO by FTE

These files include state-, county-, district-, and school-level Teaching AMO data disaggregated by subject area, school type, alternative schools, school grade span, teacher credential level, teacher experience level, and academic year. Information about the data elements included in these files and how the data are structured will be included in the Teaching AMO File Layout web page. For detailed examples on how to properly use these data, please refer to the "Using Teaching AMO Data File" information provided on the file layout web page.

Additional Teaching AMO Glossary Terms

In addition to the DataQuest Teaching AMO report description, the following definitions, which are also included in the report glossary, provide useful information to help users understand the Teaching AMO data.

School Grade Span

A summary of the grade levels associated with the students enrolled at a school based on the lowest and highest K-12 grades offered at a school.

• Grades K-6: Includes data for schools where the highest grades offered are grades 6 or less, inclusive (e.g., grade K, grades K-1, grades K-6, grades 1-5, grade 6).
  
  
• Grades 6-9: Includes data for schools where the lowest grades offered are grades 6-8, inclusive, and the highest grades offered are grades 7-9, inclusive (e.g., grades 6-9, grades 6-8, grades 7-9).
  
  
• Grades 9-12: Includes data for schools where the lowest grades offered are grades 9-11, inclusive, and the highest grades offered are grades 9-12, inclusive (e.g., grade 9, grades 9-10, grades 10-12, grade 12).
  
  
• Grades K-12 Other: Includes data for schools where the lowest grades offered are grades K-8, inclusive, and the highest grades offered are grades 7-12, inclusive (e.g., grades K-12, grades K-8, grades 1-12, grades 6-12, grades 8-9, grades 7-12).

Subject Area

A high-level summary grouping of state course codes (formerly known as CBEDS assignment codes) that share similarities in subject content area covered in a specific course (e.g., English/Language Arts or Mathematics). Information about the state course codes is included in the CALPADS Code Set, under Course Group State, and information about the mapping of state course codes to subject content areas can be found in the CALPADS Valid Code Combinations document under the Course Group Master Combo tab. These CALPADS documents are publicly available on the CDE CALPADS System Documentation web page.

Teacher Credential Level

An indication of whether a teacher holds a "clear or preliminary teaching credential" or not. Teachers are defined as "fully credentialed" if they possess a clear or preliminary teaching credential. Teachers are defined as "not fully credentialed" if they do not possess a clear or preliminary teaching credential.

Teacher Experience Level

An indication of whether a teacher is considered to be "experienced" or "inexperienced" based on a count of the cumulative number of years a teacher has been providing educational services in a certificated position within any Educational Institution. Teachers are defined as "experienced" if they have more than two years of experience. Teachers are defined as “inexperienced” if they have two or fewer years of teaching experience. More information about this term, approved by the SBE to comply with ESSA, can be found on the CDE Updated Teacher Equity Definitions web page.